Every idea is not a Fiction!

Anantha Subramanyam K

Surprises are sometimes very sweet. This particular co-incidence will stay with me for a long time to come.

Any cinema in general and fiction in particular are always inspired by happenings surrounding us. And, when you see the real character that you thought of in the pre-production stage, it is not just a mere co-incidence!

As me and my son Harshith were busy writing to dialogues for our script where the protagonist is a cab driver. He is honest, enterprising and bold. But, the pandemic had pushed him to such a miserable levels where he is can’t afford a basic scanning required for his pregnant wife. One fine day everything changes as his life takes the wildest turn and an unforgettable ride. We had given him a factious name Ramappa Patil and the character originally is from Belgaum.

CUT TO REALITY.
Yesterday, Tuesday, we were returning home in a cab. I normally strike a conversation with Cab or Auto drivers, more so since I started first draft of my 4th Script that is of a Cab Driver. My first Surprise was the name. Rao Prathap Basagouda Patil. The next surprise was, he was from Belgaum. It didn’t stop there. His wife is pregnant and expecting a child. More…last week, in broad daylight a knife wielding thief entered his car near Richmond road, and threatened him to give away cash and mobile. Prathap Jumped out of car, locked it, gathering strength and sought help from few passersby, fought the thief who managed to escape as he had a knife. Later, with a media channel’s help (again part of my script!) police was notified and he went to lodge a complaint on the incident. The Police Inspector at Ashoknagar Police station, Mallesh Bolletin, helped the cab driver, counselled him to get out of the fear and eased his procedure at the police station that helped the police nab the thief very next day. Now the assailant I cooling his heels in jail. Well, if you thought this was the end of the story, NO!

FLASHBACK.
“I came to Bangalore many years ago to be an actor, but no luck” started Prathap when I called him to ask more details about him. “Later, I put up a roadside food cart which again was a failure. Later I joined Tiles factory, me and two other friends purchased a car, and started with an IT firm which was in full bloom. We earned, again we invested in construction business and I continued to work in Tiles factory where I leaned some driving too” narrates Prathap as his life further took wild turns.

Despite Prathap’s advice, his friends went ahead with lavish plan of constructions incurred huge loss. And also cheated Prathap on his share. “I didn’t lose Heart, I earned ome money in Tiles factory, later went back as a labourer in construction sites, and managed to buy a car for myself before becoming a driver with an app based regulator which looked good nough in the beginning” explains Prathap. Prathap in fact has acted as a transgender in a Kannada Movie! This was a googly to me.
At his Village, his parents’ tryst with getting him married hit a roadblock as everyone thought he was a failure. “Later, I tried on my own, approached a family and explained my ordeal I faced in detail, that family agreed to get their daughter married to me, and when I thought life was OK, Covid pandemic hit many of us hard” Prathap who is on his way back to Belgaum to tend to his wife who is pregnant and expecting their second child, is undecided whether to return back to Bengaluru, the city of his dreams, or not. He and his family have managed to purchase a half acre land for agriculture. So, he is contemplating settling back in his village which his family members too are willing.
My meeting with Prathap is already sending positive vibes in me as a writer. So, my 4th script I dedicate to all the struggling Cab drivers who came to our city with a dream from their villages across the state. And, just hope Bengaluru, lives up to their dreams.
(Anantha Subrahmanya is a photojournalist who worked previously for Bangalore Mirror )